The Wild and Wacky Laws of Alabama 

So, do I make this a recurring series from time to time, or what?

"Do you want to hear about weird laws from Alabama for 19 minutes?" "No, why would I want to do that?" "What if Austin McConnell made the video" "Oh in that case, I'll watch it as soon as I can"

"...subject a bear to surgical alteration" Alabama doesnt mess around when it comes to stopping cyborg bears.

Can't wrestle a bear, cant duel a bear! Where will it go next?! I thought this was supposed to be a country of FREEDOM

Airbag fraud is an actually serious issue. They're quite expensive parts, so sleazy dealers tend to repair crashed cars, not bother replacing the airbags, and sell cars as uncrashed. Worst thing is that you won't know you don't have an airbag until, well, you crash. And that's too late. Good on you Alabama, good on you

Reminder: All these laws came about because it most likely happened at one point or another.

The law against marathons could be aimed at 'dance marathons'--events that were popular during the Depression, where the last couple that could keep moving got a prize.

I came expecting a law forbidding goats from attaining a driver's license or something. But most of these made sense in the proper context. I for one appreciate laws forbidding defunct airbags being installed in a vehicle.

In a lot of states and cities, spitting on sidewalks was banned to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. And it worked.

I feel like aside from the obviously ridiculous stuff like high heel permits and yoga restrictions most of these are actually perfectly reasonable laws

So my plans of selling counterfeit glitter-coated kitten-fur airbags in Alabama are shot to hell. It's getting harder and harder to make a dishonest living in this world.

"What are you in for?" "Grabbed a turtle."

Also in Eufaula, Alabama, a girl can get married at the age of 15 without her parent's permission and 13 with it. While the man has to be 19 to get married without permission and 17 with it. At least it was the law in 1978 when I married my wife, she was 15 and I was 17. The judge called my father to get the okay to marry us and my father told him that he would come to Alabama and kick his butt if he did. So the judge married us without my father’s permission and we were married for 30 years till she passed away in an accident caused by a drunk driver. The lesson here is don’t piss off the judge if you want to have it your way.

5:28 - airbag fraud is actually a big thing unfortunately, and I wonder how new this Alabama law is. In 2011-2015 when I worked as a DHL manager for a large hub in the US South, we had been unknowingly delivering fake airbags for quite some time, and then federal authorities used us to stage raids on various people. I believe it made the national news at the time. Charging retail prices for airbags that looked correct but were functionally inert, which could cost people their lives. Most of them originated from Indian and Pakistan, as I recall. More commonly, people insert resistors into airbag cabling and simply unplug the real airbag (that doesn't work for whatever reason). The resistor tricks the car's SRS system into thinking the airbag is fine so the airbag light stays off. I use the resistors - legally, of course - as a mechanic to check as to whether a short or open circuit fault code is the result of something internal to the airbag or in the car's wiring harness. It's a temporary measure, however, not a permanently installed "fix."

I commend Alabama for standing up for bear rights! Bears are tired of being treated like second class citizens

"Oh yeah that's a pretty good law, dueling is very much a drastic action for anything, and especially at the time as medicine wasn't as advanced as it is now people would totally die from it, I'm glad Alabama was forward thinking at the ti-" *2:27**: Also illegal to fight a bear* "Legit 1984."

As an honorable mention: putting salt on a railroad track is a capital offence and is punishable by death

The song just plays in my head anytime i hear the name of the state

Huh... there's even more laws concerning bears wrestling? And here I thought there were no rules in bear fighting.

you can tell these are laws that were written after very specific things happened to particular law makers. who did yoga hurt so badly?

8:02 when he said "They casnt say namiste," that had me rolling. that's rediclous lmfao 🤣

Alabama: Don't promote that fake Hinduism or Eastern religions through yoga in any way, shape, form, or chant. Also Alabama: Wanna be a truthful and professional Psychic? Just pay fees, undergo a background check, and get an ID.

Sadly a lot of these "silly and wacky" laws were the result of a few absurd people causing problems.

The releasing of wild boars back into the wild isn't actually a crazy law, they are an extremely invasive species, and they are all ofer the place down here

You're smashing it, keep it coming!

I love that this April Fool's joke has become a thing now. 1:00: South Carolina did this as well, and possibly a few other states. There was a serious problem in both states where politicians kept killing each other in duels. Then it was prohibited and it's all been downhill since. In SC, the prohibition was removed in the 1970s.

Wow, two states down 48 more to go

I moved to Oklahoma at one point and I remember going to get a new drivers license, they had a law plastered on the wall saying that it was illegal to swear in front of women or children. Thought that was funny, but there was no way I was going to test it in front of many police men.

We've been trying to get that damn doorstop passing for a state constitution re-written for decades.

if huggbees has taught me anything (and he most certainly has), its that wacky laws and facts from different states are an entertainment gold mine. looking forward to seeing more vids like this from you!

Sunday closing is not that rare in Europe. In norway only tiny stores and gas stations are open.

Sitting on my sweet home Alabama front porch drinking coffee,and watching this video right meow!

April fools video did so well he's like well shit, lets do it again.

I've lived in Alabama my whole life I've heard that it's illegal to put a donkey in a bathtub here

As someone who lives in alabama i have to say, Its Mississippi that has all the incest

4:27 Yes because I just happen to carry missiles in my pocket as an every day social practice.

I kinda understood the reasoning to ban yoga because of "hypothesis" BUT as the law kept getting read out it quickly turned from a law misunderstanding hypothesis to a law that very "If its not from the bible, its not allowed here!!"... But hey, at least it's opt out.

What if you dueled with paintball guns could you not run for office?

Wait. No one is allowed to injure any tree growing in a cemetery? Not even a gardener hired by the people who run the cemetery? Wouldn't that just lead to cemeteries being overgrown?

0:20 Hometown mention!! Lesgooo!!!

Ah yes, the land of the free where yoga was banned from schools until 2021 and is basically still functionally banned

Only a matter of time until he stumbles upon the subsubsubsubsubsection that declares the publication of these laws on RU-vid illegal and punishable by death by bear wrestling (strictly forbidden otherwise)

there's a story of stupidity behind every single one of these laws-- i think that might be my favorite part

Looking forward to seeing if you mention the illegality of wearing high heels in downtown Mobile. YES! Finally 🤣🤣 This was a CYA law they enacted to avoid being sued by women that broke their shoes or ankles when their stiletto heels popped into the metal grates along the sidewalks.

Seriously though, the Mobile laws around not littering and such seem to be more than sensible.

i mean the bear wrestling laws arent that weird considering putting bears in professional wrestling matches used to be a somewhat popular thing, and people i think have since changed public opinion toward animal cruelty in things like that

I could never dig so deep into the laws of a state, especially each major city of a state to find such obscure and wacky laws in the seemingly infinite pit of laws like you did.

I think both the feral swine law and the pet fur law are both country-wide if I remember correctly. Feral swine are invasive, so any state bans their release. This also applies to most invasives. (Example: house sparrows, european starlings.) Not sure if it applies to cats or dogs though, which is why I say "most." For the pet fur law - I know that country-wide, importation and buying/selling it is banned. But hey, you can still possess it, like a lil cat memento or something on your shelf. Oh yeah and the flattened musk turtle is a part of the Endangered Species Act so that is most likely country-wide too. Could be other laws that I'm missing but I mostly know animals.

Thank you for pronouncing Mobile correctly!

I've become really fond of these weird-law-videos from you. Keep it going! :D

Why am I addicted to this I NEED MORE

0:21 I can see my favorite bakery and coffee roaster from here!

0:24 thanks for mentioning my hometown

Weird to see conservation laws in these "weird law" videos. They make sense and have good reason to exist

5:15 "Dang, there goes my plans for the day." -Cruella Deville probably

These are quite enjoyable and I do hope you do more of them.

I work for an Alabama publication and just pitched making this exact same video inspired by your last wacky law video! Oh well, great stuff!

I find that in the southern US it's not difficult to find out what types of businesses are owned by members of the city council, all you have to do is see what's open on Sundays.

I will never get over how popular dueling was at one point in time in our history.

Wait... so I'm NOT allowed to throw missiles at animals? DAMN IT

I think for additional context, the Alabama State Constitution is one of the longest constitutions in the world. The reason why is that provisions were put in place when the Constitution was written that prohibit the constitution from being re-written - only amended. I'm not sure how far back this goes (if it was only new to the 1901 version or if it goes back to Alabama's first Constitution), but it makes the 1901 Constitution - which Alabama used for the next 120 years - somewhat problematic. So as a result the State Constitution has a lot of language that is widely ignored due to federal amendments, etc. And also as a result there are pages upon pages of amendments to existing laws rather than simply rewriting or omitting obsolete or unusual laws. Alabama did not ratify a new version of its Constitution to consolidate and organize everything, as well as remove problematic language, until 2022.

The law about glitter is legit. Fuck glitter.

Would love to see more states! Super fun video :)

Ayyy, another law video! Honestly you make this stuff interesting

Would love this as a series

I feel like almost all of these are standard laws most states have

This sounds like a quirky Austin McConnell rabbit hole, and I’m glad to be here for it. 🤣👍

Unless the engines are turned off... if the engine gets turned off mid flight, you'll be damn sure imma bag me a trophy on the way down

Peanuts or not, no one willingly goes to Dothan.

I’m all for this becoming a series!

15:39 someone forgot to mention what the picture has to be of 😈

Ever since I was a teen I wouldn’t have been interested in videos like this but now in my adult years I love these informational videos.

My father was born in Alabama in 1939. He once told me about the time he fought a bear. It was back when he was still drinking. He quit drinking when he was 28, he was still in his prime. There was a carnival that had an attraction where you could pay money to box a bear. It had a muzzle and gloves over the paws to prevent a mauling. I'm guessing the bear was declawed. He was always physically strong and decided to give it a go. He payed his money and got in the cage. The bear looked bored and took one swipe at him. It knocked his ass on the ground with so much force he could not believe it. The experience gave him a greater respect for wildlife.

I like the "we're tired of people showing up to church hammered" law

Dueling should make a legal comeback. No modernized firearms, just the same tools and rules gentlemen have always agreed to.

To be fair, _most_ of these seem perfectly sane. I say _most_ but we're talking Alabama here ...

16:02 actually makes sense you wouldn't want somebody who's convicted of fraud or identity theft working that kind of job that would literally be a candy store for them victims

beginning around 9:18 i would hazard to guess the laws about silly string, snap pops, confetti and the like was done with mardi gras in mind. Mobile is actually the origin point of american mardi gras and the parades here get terribly messy with the bead necklaces and paper favors they throw all over the place. sometimes it is so bad beads will still be on the trees weeks after mardi gras has ended. it is already a great mess to clean and as hard as beads are to clean up they are simply too iconic to mardi gras to ban those too 😅

OK the yoga one is incredibly funny. Like, 'we'll teach your goofy exercises, but you can keep that other junk' lol.

As someone from Alabama, I can confirm we have some wacky laws.

Huh. The yoga ban kinda sucks actually because I still remember the few guided meditations my highschool gym teacher did for the class

6:54 Woah Austin, go off!

No silly string or stink bombs? So Alabama literally has fun police. 😢

Not all of these laws are actually "wacky".

Three dog and three cats work for me. Going inside stinky homes and trying play it off really sucks.

14:00 in my state Alcohol is prohibited for sale only from between 2am and 7am, every day except Sunday when it's from 2am to 10am. Liquor stores run from almost 9am to 10pm sharp, except Sunday when they're closed. Is that weird?

"Hey, Pilot, turn off the engine, I gotta shoot that deer."

Bear wresting happened in the early 90s.Terrible Ted was a local nightclubs

Hey I live in Alabama! Guess I have a to do list for this weekend :D

I dunno, if both parties agree in writing to the duel and there are appropriate witnesses present... A lot of these laws could be simplified to 'no littering', 'no vandalism' or 'no theft'

As a resident of Birmingham Alabama THANK YOU for leaving us alone

So I watched the Missouri video because I live here now. I was born in Birmingham and grew up up in Tuscaloosa until I was 25. Loving this and would love as a series since I can probably name the states I haven’t vacationed/visited than have. So would Love to find out the silly of them all!

But bears and alligators taste so good.

Hey Austin, how is your heart doing? Always appreciate the content :)

After listening to this episode and the one on Missouri laws, apparently there was a real issue with people wrestling bears. My how times have changed

You need to do this for all 50 states! It's great and educational!

4:32 "...nor shall he remove or have in his possession the young of any wild animal, or the eggs or nest, or young of any reptile or bird" W8 so chicken eggs are illegal in Alabama parks? Awesome!

The dueling thing actually still affects things today. It'd why professional fights don't happen in Alabama, like boxing. Until the 2000s with the rise of popularity of MMA and UFC ameture fights began so they finally approved a fight commission but then made the rules so strict that no one, even actual professionals could ever get a fight approved. The new provisions outlawed ameture fights.

You should do Tennessee next! We have such oddities as a law banning shooting any animal from a moving vehicle... with the exception of whales! In a landlocked state!

Man, Alabama is no fun. Me and my bear get along very well, and it's nobody's business what we do on the weekends.